Chapter 3 Clara
Clara
A low, rhythmic, mechanical grinding vibrates through the thick walls of the master bedroom.
The sound hums directly into my spine where I sit rigidly on the edge of the mattress.
My fingers grip the edge of the heavy silk duvet.
My knuckles ache from the force of my own tension.
The lock on the bedroom door is heavy, solid steel, a deadbolt that slid into place with the resounding finality of a prison cell.
It offers a complete illusion of safety.
The man on the other side of that door owns the entire building. He owns the walls. He owns the lock.
He owns me.
My stomach tightens into a painful, hollow knot.
The adrenaline from swinging a baseball bat at a mafia underboss has finally burned out of my bloodstream, leaving behind nothing but cold, shaking exhaustion.
I stare at the massive, floor-to-ceiling windows.
The Chicago skyline glitters in the absolute dead of night.
The city looks oblivious to the fact that my life just shattered into a million irreparable pieces.
Arthur Reeves. My father.
The man who taught me how to ride a bicycle. The man who brought me chicken soup when I had the flu in fifth grade. The man who kissed my forehead at my college graduation.
That same man handed me over to a crime syndicate to cover a million-dollar gambling debt and a stolen ledger of shipping logs. He traded my life for his own skin.
The betrayal sits like lead on my chest. It crushes the air out of my lungs.
A sharp, surprisingly loud thwack echoes through the drywall.
My head snaps toward the door. The mechanical whirring stops. Another heavy thwack reverberates through the quiet penthouse. It sounds suspiciously like flesh hitting a solid surface.
My mind supplies a dozen horrific scenarios. Matteo Costa is a mobster. His family runs half the city and leaves a trail of bodies in their wake. The Bellantis are hunting us. Maybe they breached the walls. Maybe Matteo is currently dismantling someone in the living room.
Then, the scent slips under the crack of the door.
Yeast. Caramelized sugar. Cinnamon.
My nose twitches. The heavy, comforting aroma of baked goods wraps around the sterile, air-conditioned chill of the bedroom.
The scent is utterly incongruous with the brutal reality of my current hostage situation.
It derails my rising panic. Mobsters do not bake cinnamon bread at two in the morning after kidnapping third-grade teachers.
My stomach gives a violent, audible rumble. I have not eaten since a stale granola bar on my drive to work over fourteen hours ago.
Sitting here trembling in the dark will not change the fact that a giant with a blackout tribal sleeve and a million-dollar claim on my soul is currently occupying the kitchen.
I am a teacher. I manage rooms full of irrational, highly emotional, unpredictable tiny humans.
I survive on caffeine and sheer stubbornness. Cowering is not in my genetic makeup.
My bare feet hit the cold hardwood floor. I march toward the door. The deadbolt turns with a sharp, heavy click under my trembling fingers.
The door swings open. The hallway of the Il Corvo penthouse stretches out before me in shadows, illuminated only by the warm, golden light spilling from the kitchen at the far end.
The sheer scale of the place is intimidating.
Dark wood, minimalist artwork, stark luxury.
It is a cage lined with velvet and cold hard cash.
I pad quietly down the hall. The smell of rising dough and melting butter grows stronger with every step. My mouth physically waters. The betrayal of my own biology infuriates me.
I reach the edge of the expansive living area. The kitchen is a massive, commercial-grade masterpiece. Stainless steel appliances gleam under the recessed lighting. The island alone is a sprawling slab of black marble the size of my entire apartment living room.
Standing dead center at that marble island is the beast who bought me.
Matteo Costa dominates the space. He is a mountain of a man.
His heavy build makes the massive kitchen look small.
He wears a tight black t-shirt that strains against his broad chest and thick biceps.
Silver hair glints sharply at his temples in the warm under-cabinet lighting.
A thick, coarse beard frames a jaw carved from absolute granite.
The heavy gold chain around his neck swings forward as he moves, the medallion catching the light.
He is leaning over the counter. His massive, scarred hands press into a mound of pale dough.
Thwack.
He lifts the dough and slams it against the marble. The sound echoes through the cavernous penthouse. He folds the dough over itself with a brutal, mesmerizing efficiency. Press. Fold. Turn. Slam.
The sheer violence in the action is tempered by the precise, almost gentle way he treats the flour.
He is not fighting the dough. He is dominating it.
He works with an effortless rhythm, absorbed in the physical task.
The tension in his massive shoulders flexes the dark ink of his tribal sleeve.
The shadows of the kitchen play across the dark, brooding intensity in his eyes.
I stand frozen in the hallway. Watching him feels invasive. Watching him feels dangerous.
"You breathe too loud for a woman trying to sneak up on a killer."
His voice is a low, gravelly rumble that vibrates down into my toes. He does not stop kneading. He does not look up from the marble counter.
My spine snaps straight. "I'm not sneaking. I'm investigating the bizarre noise keeping me awake. I assumed you were hiding a body. I didn't realize you were running a midnight bakery."
"Come into the light, Clara." The command is simple. It lacks the explosive violence of our earlier encounter, but the absolute authority in his tone brooks zero arguments.
I step out of the shadows. I cross the living room floor, my bare feet silent on the expensive rug. I stop three feet away from the marble island. I cross my arms over my chest, suddenly acutely aware of my rumpled teacher cardigan and the sensible slacks I wore to school this morning.
Matteo finally stops kneading. He straightens up. The sheer vertical mass of him is staggering. He dwarfs me. He reaches for a white towel resting on the edge of the counter and wipes the flour from his massive hands.
His dark eyes lock onto mine. The intensity in his stare pins me in place.
"You locked the door," he states flatly.
"I was under the impression that kidnapping victims are supposed to secure their perimeters."
"You aren't a kidnapping victim." He tosses the towel aside. "You're collateral. And a flimsy piece of steel isn't going to stop me from walking into that room if I decide I want to be in there."
My jaw locks. The arrogant, territorial weight of his words sets off a spark of pure defiance in my chest. "If you break down that door, I will ruin this expensive marble counter with whatever heavy object I can find."
A low, dark sound rumbles in his chest. It sounds dangerously close to a laugh. He likes the fight. That realization sends a complicated, unwelcome thrill through my veins.
"Sit down, Clara." He points a massive finger at the heavy leather barstool on my side of the island.
"I prefer to stand."
"Your stomach is growling loud enough to wake the dead. Sit down."
My cheeks flood with fiery heat. The biological betrayal is complete. I glare at him, refusing to yield the high ground, but my knees are shaking with exhaustion. I pull out the heavy stool and slide onto the leather seat. I keep my spine ramrod straight.
Matteo turns away. He moves around the massive kitchen with surprising grace for a man of his brutal size.
He opens a custom warming drawer. A waft of intense, savory heat fills the space.
He pulls out a baking sheet lined with perfectly golden, blistered focaccia bread.
The smell of rosemary, sea salt, and roasted garlic is utterly intoxicating.
He grabs a heavy wooden dough scraper. The hard edge slices through the thick bread with a dull, heavy thud. He slides a large square of the steaming bread onto a small ceramic plate and sets it on the marble directly in front of me.
"Eat."
I stare at the bread. The steam rises in little ribbons, carrying the scent of olive oil. "Is it poisoned?"
"If I wanted you dead, Clara, I wouldn't waste perfectly good imported olive oil to do it. You'd already be in the Chicago River."
The blunt reality of his words steals the air from the room. He says it so casually. The violence is a casual fact of his existence. He is an underboss. He is a man who deals in death. Right now, he is handing me fresh bread. The cognitive dissonance is giving me whiplash.
I reach out. My fingers brush the warm crust. I pull a small piece apart and bring it to my mouth.
The taste is explosive. Flawless. The crust shatters perfectly, the inside pillowy and rich. A soft, humiliating groan escapes the back of my throat before I can stop it.
Matteo's hands freeze on the counter. His dark eyes dart to my mouth. The air in the kitchen suddenly shifts, growing heavy, thick, and suffocatingly tight. The ambient temperature seems to spike by ten degrees.
I swallow hard, forcing my eyes away from the dangerous, primal intensity radiating from his massive frame. "It's... fine."
"It's exceptional, and you know it." He leans his heavy forearms on the marble island, closing the distance between us. The sheer size of him blocks out the rest of the room.
The scent slams into me, heavy and inescapable. Toasted flour, dark rum, and warm skin. It is intoxicating. It is uniquely his. The aroma wraps around my senses, drowning out the rosemary and garlic. It smells like danger and absolute security twisted perfectly together.